


Never Again

by Silverdrift



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Multi, Other, Threats of Violence, Tortured for information, Whump, electric shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverdrift/pseuds/Silverdrift
Summary: Lorenz is kidnapped and tortured for information on both of his royal husbands, but no matter what he never spoke a word... he just had to hold out until they could find him...
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Lorenz Hellman Gloucester/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	Never Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bogoro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bogoro/gifts).



> My half of a trade with Bogoro... and I hope you enjoy this particular flavor of beat up pretty boy. Its a fairly strong flavor.
> 
> Please mind the tags!!!!
> 
> but if you do continue... enjoy!

Lorenz opened his eyes with a groan, pain flooding his senses and the metallic taste of copper on his tongue. Everything hurt, which he assumed partly was because of how he was shackled, metal digging into his skin with his wrists together above his head as if to keep him on his feet while he had been unconscious. “Hng… Where…” He looked around him, hoping to find anything at all that would tell him where he was or what happened… when suddenly, he heard footsteps.

“Oh good, you’re awake… nice of you to join me. I’ve been waiting.”

Lorenz tried to turn his head to look at where the voice came from, but the way he was strung up made it impossible. “Who…?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter… but you… oh you are certainly a guest of high honor.” The mystery man chuckled from somewhere behind him. “The husband of not only the King of Fodlan… but the King of Almyra as well, yes? Many hail you as the hero that united the nations with such a bold marriage…” The sentence trailed off into a hum, followed the subtle, unmistakable sound of a blade being drawn. “Here’s the deal. I work for someone very powerful… and that person wants information. Information you will give to me one way or another. And after I get what I need, if you’re lucky… I’ll kill you.”

“Do to me what you like.” Lorenz half growled. “I care not what it is you want to know. I will-AGH!” He cried out as he felt the sharp pain of cold steel cutting into his back followed by a searing pain that he couldn’t place. 

“You see, you are in no position to be stubborn… I will get what I need. Everyone breaks eventually.” The man went quiet for a moment, then sighed softly. “Let’s start with an easy question. The King of Fodlan, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd-”

“You have no right to speak his name, cur!” Lorenz spat, though his voice wavered from the pain. The whimpered, gritting his teeth to keep himself from crying out again when another cut was made, struggling against his restraints trying to get away. 

“Touchy…” His captor laughed. “Keep up that fire, kid. I’m going to enjoy beating it out of you.... Alright how about this then. The King of Almyra, King Khalid… some say he's actually from Fodlan. Would you know anything about that?”

Lorenz said nothing. 

The man walked around in front of him to see if he was even still conscious. Lorenz waited for him to walk closer, then lifted his head and spat on him. He expected retaliation, but the speed with which this man reared back and hit him had his head spinning more than the punch did, his head snapping to the side with a grunt. He could feel the blood starting to trickle from his nose, which given how hard he was hit wasn’t surprising.

“Listen, you over glorified whore... Spit on me again and I’ll start taking off body parts," he took the knife in his hand and dug it into the center of Lorenz chest, not stopping until he hit the sternum, "and making the recovery of your body a fucking scavenger hunt." He punctuated this threat by slowly dragging the knife down, stopping at the bottom of the sternum, a wicked grin on his face.

Lorenz clenched his jaw to muffle his scream, struggling to get away from the intense pain of the tip of the knife grazing bone. When his attacker stepped away, Lorenz dropped his head again, trying to catch his breath… and noticed something odd… 

He wasn't bleeding.

"What…?" He mumbled breathlessly only to look up when his captor started to laugh.

"If you bleed out, pretty boy, the fun ends too soon and I don't get what I need. However, use a knife that has a weak fire spell on it… instant cauterization." He flipped the blade in his hand and then looked back at Lorenz. "Now…" the tip of the knife hovered over the cut on Lorenz's chest, "You gonna start talking, or am I going to have to carve a picture of your ribs in your chest?"

Fear gripped Lorenz tight, his body trembling… but the look on his face remained defiant. "Do your worst, knave… I will not tell you a thing."

"Heh. We'll see about that…"

\---

"Where could he be…?" Dimitri asked aloud, to no one in particular, staring out over the palace entrance from his balcony. The last letter he had received from Lorenz had him leaving the Gloucester estate the following morning, after having wrapped up some loose ends in the old alliance territory and beginning the renovation of his old estate into an orphanage. Dimitri couldn't have been more excited. This meant that Lorenz was officially making his home with him, after years of sorting his affairs with his land and estate. 

However, the excitement had since faded. Even as leisurely as his darling husband tended to ride… he should have been back nearly twelve hours ago. For the first couple of hours, he figured there was just a delay, assuring an already suspicious and worried Claude that nothing was wrong… but as time wore on, he started to fear Claude may have been right. Something was wrong. 

The sound of wings pulled him from his thoughts, looking up to see Claude had returned, he and his wyvern slowly lowering down toward the balcony. Dimitri was hopeful at first that Claude had found him, that maybe something minor had happened and Lorenz had gotten lost or dismounted and was simply in need of a quick pick up… but it didn’t seem Claude had anyone with him… and when he was low enough for Dimitri to see his face… “Nothing?”

“Not a damn thing…” Claude confirmed with a frustrated growl. “The only thing I saw was-”

“Boar!”

“Your Majesty!”

Dimitri turned toward the frantic voices of Dedue and Felix as they ran out onto the balcony. “What is it? Has something happened?”

“Ignatz arrived back at the palace, gravely wounded.” Dedue reported. 

Dimitri felt his heart stop… Ignatz was a friend… but also a part Lorenz’s personal guard. “What?!”

“That’s not all.” Felix started, straightening himself up, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He was normally very no nonsense and practically married to that blade… but to see him so on edge was disturbing in its own right. “Not long after, one of my men came back from scouting and said he found something disturbing… I took Dedue to investigate and found a massacre. But whoever it was burned the bodies to keep us from identifying them...”

“Did Ignatz come back with any burns?” Claude asked calmly, trying to keep it together for Dimitri… but the white knuckled grip on his saddle and the fear in his eyes gave him away. 

“Yes.” Felix confirmed. “...It looks like he’s the only one that survived. I’ve sent out a group to find out more.”

Dimitri gasped, his shaking hands clenching into fists. “That means…” 

“Raphael… Gods Ignatz is going to be crushed…"

“Your Majesty… Majesties… I have reason to believe that Lorenz was not among the dead.” 

“I appreciate the optimism, Dedue, but we are going to need more than that.”

“Leading away from the sight of the massacre, we found a trail of blood that stopped suddenly a few yards away as well as rose petals along the trail… Gloucester rose petals.”

“The rose on Lorenz’s armor…” Claude muttered softly. 

“Then Lorenz may yet be alive!” Dimitri practically shouted with relief. “ We… We must hurry! I… Do we have anything at all to go on?”

Felix shook his head. “Afraid not.”

“Ignatz was unable to tell us anything since he fell unconscious soon after his arrival.” 

“Shit…” Claude started to think, going through anything at all that might give them a clue. He scoured his brain for something… anything… Suddenly a thought came to mind and while it was a little far fetched… He looked over to Dimitri and judging by the look on his face, he had had the same thought.

“Duke Fraldarius! Mr. Molinaro, sir!” a man called from the door, causing all of them to turn and look. 

“You better have something for me if you are interrupting us now.” Felix huffed.

“Yes sir… When we were preparing Sir Victor for treatment, we discovered something in his hands you might want to see.”

“Right. Dedue, Felix you go ahead. Claude and I will not be far behind…” Dimitri instructed.

“You had the same thought…” Claude said softly as the others left, speaking only loud enough to be heard over the steady beating of Marshmallow’s wings. "You really think it could be him?"

"I fear that may be the case, yes… though I thought we had dealt with him, it is what makes the most sense…" Dimitri exhaled a shaky sigh and turned to head to the door. "I will go confirm my suspicion with whatever was found and retrieve our weapons… we will depart immediately after." He started to head inside then… but suddenly he stopped just inside the door, hand on the door frame. It creaked and splintered beneath his grip, his form visibly shaking. "And Claude… I apologize in advance for… for..."

"No need, my love... I'll meet you at the gate."

\---

"I'll give you this, you're tougher than you look." The man sighed, sitting his knife down next to the array of other tools who had used to beat and abuse Lorenz, and stepping back to admire his handy work. "Most preppy nobles like you squeal after the first few cuts… but you… clearly we underestimated you!"

Lorenz kept his head down, jaw clenched tightly, forcing himself to ignore the acrid taste of vomit in his mouth and breath through the pain. He had stopped speaking entirely, saving the quickly diminishing energy he had for trying to get through this. Surely by now Claude and Dimitri would have noticed he was late, they had to have… They would be looking for him. If he could just hold out until they arrived…

"Well. Looks like it's time to step it up a notch." His captor hummed, raising his fingers and snapping.

A second after a power jolt of electricity shot through the chains. It wasn't enough to kill him, thanks mostly to his magic resistance, but it was enough that his screams practically echoed through the halls. It lasted less than five seconds, but for Lorenz, that felt like an eternity, leaving him whimpering and coughing when it finally stopped. His knees wanted so badly to give out and let him drop, but his shackles kept him upright, digging into his wrists if too much of his weight was applied. 

"Ooooh. That looked like it hurt… wanna start talking now? I promise it all ends quick once you answer my questions."

"Ngh… Never…" Lorenz wheezed, defiance still strong even if his voice was weak. 

"Goddess you are stubborn… fine." 

Another snapped, another shock, this time for a second longer. Lorenz writhed and screamed in agony, but once it subsided, he fell quiet again, save for his wheezy panting.

Then again.

And again.

But still Lorenz said not a word.

"Damn. Boss said you had a pretty good resistance to magic but he neglected to tell me how much of a pain in the ass you are…” The man huffed and picked up a bucket nearby. “This was supposed to be for you to drink, but eh.”

The rather frigid water was tossed on Lorenz, and then the man immediately snapped, giving no time at all for Lorenz to recover before the shock tore through his body again. This time he didn’t scream, mostly because he  _ couldn’t _ and when it finally stopped, he started coughing again… but this time it sounded rather wet. 

“Whoops! Sounds like I aaaalmost went too far.” His captor came over, yanking his head up by his hair to get a good look at him. The blood in his mouth told him everything he needed to know. “Looks like it’s back to the tools on the table… unless you got smart and are ready to talk.”

“I will not… You… You will...” Lorenz started, voice raspy and quiet. “You will simply have… to kill me…”

“Oh no. Remember? You don’t get to die until-”

_ CRASH! _

“The fuck was…”

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

Suddenly there was a strangled scream from somewhere outside, followed by the door getting busted open by a man flying through it and into the opposite wall with a sickening crunch. Lorenz’s captor quickly drew his weapon, ready to fight or kill his captive, only to end up with an arrow buried in his shoulder. “Gah! SHIT!”

Lorenz slowly lifted his head and looked at the door just as Claude and Dimitri stepped into the room. Claude had a dark look on his face, highlighted by the deep red glow of a drawn and ready Failnaught, and Dimitri… Dimitri looked almost feral again, covered in blood and gripping Areadbar so tightly his knuckles were white.

“Lorenz?” Claude called, not taking his eyes off the man before them. “Talk to me… are you ok?”

“I… I am alright…”

“Claude... “ Dimitri started, a wicked smirk slowly spreading across his face as he started toward Lorenz’s captor. “Tend to Lorenz… I will handle this wretch…”

Lorenz watched for a moment as Claude lowered his bow and nodded his head, muttering to himself in Almyran before hurrying over to help him. To be able to see his face… something he wasn’t sure he would ever get to do again… relief flooded over him. “Thank… Thank the Goddess…I...” He trailed off, feeling himself starting to get faint.  _ No! No, Not now… I can’t…  _ “C-Claude? I don’t…. I…” Claude’s voice sounded so distant, so distorted, no matter how hard Lorenz tried to focus on it, but there was a frantic look on his face. Lorenz opened his mouth to try to comfort him, but nothing came out but a strained wheeze… 

And then it all went black.

\---

Lorenz came back to consciousness with a start, jolting awake and trying to sit up… which became a choice he quickly came to regret.

“Hey, Hey, Hey, careful…”

A pair of gentle hands, rough with the calluses of a long time archer, gently guided him back down to a reclined position. Lorenz closed his eyes for a moment once he was comfortable again, trying to let the wave of nausea and pain pass before looking over to who had helped him. Two familiar faces… ones he was absolutely relieved to see… “Claude…? Dimitri…?” 

“Yes, Beloved… We are here…” Dimitri assured softly, voice wavering as he sat down beside Lorenz and took his hand.

“You gave us quite a scare…” Claude added, opting to kneel beside the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Dreadful,” Lorenz admitted, turning his head a bit more to look at Claude, “but alive.”

“And we couldn’t be more thankful…” Dimitri sighed softly, bringing Lorenz’s hand up to his lips for a kiss.

“I have to agree…” Claude got to his feet with a soft grunt. “I need to go tell-”

“Claude.”

Claude stopped and looked at Lorenz.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m ok. I’ve just been beside this bed on my knees too much the past week and not in a fun way.” Claude threw him a playful wink and when he got that typical Lorenz eyeroll… a smile came to his face. “I need to go tell Mercedes and Marianne that you are awake… and check on Ignatz. You gonna be ok here with just Dima for a minute?”

“I suppose. Do return quickly though… I…” he trailed off, clutting Dimitri’s hand a little tighter.

“I will be back before you know it, my love.” Claude said softly. “Believe me… after that… I don’t think you could be rid of me for long, even if you tried…”

“Alright…”

“Love you both. I’ll be back.”

Lorenz watched Claude half-jog out of the room and then looked at Dimitri. “Are you alright, darling…?”

“I… I will be. Especially now that I can see you are going to be alright… It has been a rough we for us all, I’m afraid.” Dimitri gave a soft chuckle and shook his head. “We thought we might lose you a couple of times… I… I do not think I have ever seen Claude cry the way he did nor do I ever wish to again… but that is in the past now. Your captors were dealt with, you are alive and recovering… and from here, we move forward, yes? Even if the way forward is a slow one.”

“Yes. I… I would love nothing more.”

“And I swear to you, my beloved, as long as Claude and I still draw breath...  _ no one  _ will lay such a hand on you again.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry Lorenz I swear I love you XD
> 
> come hang out with me on Twitter @silverdriftxiii


End file.
